Back to the Square

Ten months after the fall of Mubarak, was the old regime overthrown after all? In Comment this week, Wendell Steavenson writes about the ongoing parliamentary elections in Egypt, a process colored by the military’s tenacious grip on government:

Meanwhile, reforms that the revolution had called for were stalled, if not reversed. Twelve thousand people were summarily tried in military tribunals. Emergency law was augmented with new provisions. Activists and bloggers were jailed, and civil-society organizations were targeted in official investigations.

Then, on Friday, November 18th, ten days before the voting was to begin, Tahrir Square erupted again…. Protesters battled police in a cloud of tear gas for a week; more than forty were killed in clashes around the country. Tens of thousands turned out on the following Friday, and the unequivocal chant of “The people want to topple military rule!” echoed the revolutionary determination of February.

When the ballots for parliament are tallied next month, the Islamist parties, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, are expected to dominate. Will the military allow them the means to govern? And if it does, what new changes are in store for Egypt? Read the full Comment, share your comments below, and join Steavenson for a live chat tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon E.T.

Illustration by Tom Bachtell.

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